President Rivlin Tasks Netanyahu to Form Next Government

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THE RUNDOWN | Israeli President Reuven Rivlin tapped incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to form the next coalition, after talks with rival Benny Gantz to form a unity government failed on Wednesday.

Now, Israel's long-time leader who has the backing of 55 Knesset members -- six seats short of a parliamentary majority margin -- will try once again to form a coalition following the second consecutive deadlocked elections.

“For me the only question is who has the best possibility to form a coalition. In this situation, 55 MKs supported Netanyahu and 54 supported Gantz. But ten of those from the Joint List said they would not sit with Gantz, whereas the full bloc of 55 said they would support Netanyahu,” Rivlin said, standing alongside Netanyahu at his official residence.

While ten of the thirteen Joint List members pledged their support for Gantz to lead the government, they still refuse to join the coalition, instead opting to support Blue & White on the periphery of a minority government, until a unity government is formed with Likud following Netanyahu's expected indictment.

After accepting Rivlin's mandate, Netanyahu again called on his election rival to join him in forming a unity government, telling Gantz, "We won’t be able to form a government unless we do it together."

Minutes before the announcement, Yair Lapid -- number two in the Blue & White alliance led by Gantz -- said unity talks with the president collapsed after the centrist party made it clear to Netanyahu it would not agree to his premiership in a unity government. 

The right-wing bloc of parliamentary seats led by Netanyahu, and the center-left bloc led by Gantz came out toe-to-toe, with the Blue and White party claiming 33 seats to Likud's 32, after supplanting an extra seat from the religious-right United Torah Judaism, which fell back to seven Knesset representatives.

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